A light-emitting diode (LED), for example, particularly a blue or ultraviolet (UV) LED having an emission wavelength of approximately 250 nm to 550 nm, is a high-brightness product using a GaN-based compound semiconductor such as GaN, GaAlN, InGaN or InAlGaN. In addition, it is possible to form a high-quality full-color image by a method of combining red and green LEDs with a blue LED. For example, a technique of manufacturing a white LED by combining a blue or UV LED with a fluorescent material is known.
Such LEDs are widely used as backlights for liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or as lighting.
As an LED encapsulant, an epoxy resin having high adhesive strength and excellent mechanical durability is widely used. However, the epoxy resin has lower light transmittance in a blue light or UV ray region, and low heat and light resistance. For example, Japanese Patent Application Nos. H11-274571, 2001-196151 and 2002-226551 present techniques for solving the above-described problems. However, encapsulants disclosed in the above references do not have sufficient heat resistance and light resistance.